An Echo A Stain
by applemysteries
Summary: "Because when the devil knocks on your door and says 'let's go for a ride' you go, and you learn what it will take to keep you and your loved ones alive." A different kind of ATS Season 4 and BTVS Season 7. Heavy Spuffy with some Angel(us) and Buffy/Darla, and Spike and Dru/Harmony, with strong character focus on Faith, as well as the main scoobies and Angel's team.


Summary: "Because when the devil knocks on your door and says 'let's go for a ride' you go, and you learn what it will take to keep you and your loved ones alive."

Goes AU from mid ATS Season 4 (after Angelus) and mid BTVS Season 7. Heavy Spuffy with some Angel(us) and Buffy/Darla and Spike and Dru/Harmony. All other couples compliant with the seasons of the show (meaning that there will be several couples in this story, none as relevant as the above mentioned)

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel the Series, nor do I own "An Echo A Stain", as it is a Bjork song.

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The sky glimmered a taunting shade of purple and grey, swirling into a chaotic mess of prophetic red. Her eyes closed briefly, borrowing time she didn't have. She drew in a long, deep breath hoping to relax, if only for a millisecond. Her thoughts turned towards Sunnydale, and her eyes flashed open again, her legs doing all the work for her, reacting on the pure instinct of fear and a primal need to fight and survive.

She kept her eyes forward, resisting the urge to crane her neck around and see if she was still being pursued. She could no longer hear furious footsteps behind her, but she was not foolish enough to let her guard down. She had been raised better than that.

She sprinted round the sharp corner, viewing a clanging metal gate at the end of the alley, that was miraculously open. She increased her pace, ignoring her labored breathing, knowing that soon she would be home free. Her hand reached out to better grasp it, a classic symbol of hope. The gate swung shut quickly, quivering as it violently smashed back into the wall.

She froze, her heart jumping into her throat. Her feet rooted into the ground, and she knew, she knew that she was going to die in this alley. She looked around, very, very slowly, her terror still palpable and profound, a scream echoing in her throat, turning her throat raw. She was silent as she examined her surroundings. There were no menacing shadows, no disturbing breaths, no hint of anyone in this alley but her. She knew better. Her eyes, wild, surveyed the building, it's shattered fifth story window and the gritty glass littering the ground beneath it.

Time stopped, and she knew exactly where she was. Quick as a whip she turned around, stake in hand, poised. He stood, fighting stance as well, a smile of trickery etched onto his face. He did not attempt to play his game, well aware that she knew better. She was not a savior after all, and she had never been in love with him.

His right hand flashed out and she ducked, a punch connecting with his midsection, his foot flew out, kicking her hard in the face, spinning her on the ground and she tasted blood. She stood, blocking his attacks, blow for blow, doing a sudden move, she knocked his feet on from beneath him and as he flew through the air she wiped the blood from her lip. He was up again, with a snarl, his face finally changing into the darkness that rested underneath. Her stake hand twitched, and a cruel smile spread onto his lips. She matched his smile, exposing a sinister glint of her teeth. They both knew that viciousness and corruption did not rest in demons alone, but in the wicked mind of all who chose.

They both lunged, colliding together in a cacophony of destruction. Surrounded by a blur of panic and destiny her stake missed, twisting painfully into his upper arm instead, dragging down to his elbow, tearing through the muscle and spraying blood all over their faces. With a howl of agony, his good arm hit her with such force that she flew through the air, her head knocking into the pavement beneath her with such solidity that her entire world went black, dancing with stars. It returned, in blinding clarity, with a harsh ringing in her ears and a metallic taste coating her mouth, choking her. She got to her feet, swift as she could, her world twirling around her, disorienting. She cocked her head to the side, trying to focus on the other figure in the alley, who was doubled over, clutching his arm, as his blood seeped through his fingers, dripping steadily onto the floor.

Panicked, she began to run into the opposite direction, back the way she had once came, but her path was blocked by two falling figures, one of whom looked eerily like the man at the end of the alleyway. The two fingers fell onto the cold ground, showering glass down upon the earth. They groaned as they got up, fighting fiercely before the girl collapsed, emotionally weak into the man's arms, begging him to save her. Lost and hopeless the girl begged, desperate as they clung to each other with everything they had. Another figure appeared with a knife that clattered to the ground as he struggled to stand.

She stumbled back a few steps, bumping into an unknown man who stood behind her, his voice laced with disappointment and anger.

_"How many people are you going to let die, Faith?"_

She closed her eyes at his words, tears burning into her eyelids as she tried to sort through her crushed spirit and her panicked state. The mysterious figures disappeared as did the presence at her back. The man at the end of the alley straightened up and stalked towards her, murderous intent with each step. She pressed herself into the walls, hoping to fade away.

He grabbed her curls with a bloody hand, yanking her so that she had to fumble for her footing. He pressed his mouth, up against her ear, smelling of poison and wine and her own demise. She bared her teeth, turning up her chin defiantly.

"I'm not going to play your games." She spat.

Surprisingly, he released her, his face a painted image of the true Angel, regarding her with pity and hope and a thousand other emotions lurking just beyond the surface of his tormented eyes.

"No, you're not. But you are going to watch them."

In a bed, in the Hyperion Hotel, a young girl thrashes beneath the sheets, her chocolate curls tangled with sweat upon her face. A green skinned demon brushes a cold washcloth across her face, aware only of the needle hole in her arm and the deeply embedded marks of teeth on her neck. He is unaware of her haunting dreams and the warnings Faith knows that she desperately needs to speak.

Back in Sunnydale, a short, green-eyed girl with blonde hair awakes at a normal time from a dream that lingers in her brain yet can not be remembered, and busies herself with her normal routine. When she goes on patrol much later that day, her eyes settle for a few moments on the wicked knife in the weapons chest that has committed unspeakable tales of love and betrayal. She grabs a few stakes, passes a few more to a bleached-blond man, and grabs two small axes, one for each of them to wield. Her eyes trace the curve of the handle one last time as she shuts the chest, remembering the feel of the knife in her hand and how it slid through a girl like butter.

The clasp hooks securely and she hands the other blond his axe, following him out of the house, her mind focusing on the evils presently at hand, unaware that a few cities away her sister slayer dreams of twisted love and horrifying evils and chokes on screams of warning that she can not give.

A vampire approaches closer and closer in Faith's dreams, a taunting smile on his face, offering no glimmer of forgiveness, and she vainly tries to slip away from his grasp, her heart pounding blood through her veins that whispers of names and faces and people she needs to save. The vampire has another few swallows of her blood and her strength whimpers and her soul trembles and the green demon strokes her hair, unaware of the danger lurking in the corners of her mind, overpowering her. The blondes slay their demons and banter their way home while the vampire whispers his plans into Faith's ear. Plans of blood and massacre, plans of revenge against a group of people residing in Sunnydale and against a group of people leaving right there in LA.


End file.
